Man, 7-year-old killed when Metra train hit vehicle

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A man and a 7-year-old girl were killed when their car drove around crossing gates and was struck by a Milwaukee District North train in Round Lake, officials said.

The girl was thrown from the car and was not immediately found by firefighters and paramedics who responded to the accident at about 6 p.m. Wednesday near Main Street, according to Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd.

“It was within an hour of everybody getting there,” Rudd said. “While they were investigating the scene, you go obviously to the vehicle. You attend to that and start to look at the scene.”

He was not sure how far away the girl was thrown or whether she had been wearing a seat belt. He doubted the frigid cold contributed to her death and said the girl had suffered blunt force trauma. “She hit a post,” he said. An autopsy is scheduled today.

The girl was from Round Lake and the driver, 36, was from Island Lake, Rudd said. Their names were not released.

Metra spokesman Tom Miller said the car drove around crossing gates and was struck by Train 2129, scheduled to arrived in Fox Lake at 6:04 p.m. Trains were delayed about 90 minutes.